Front brake pad troubles on R1100S

[bfisher]

Guys,

My trip to get my new Pilot 4's unfortunately turned into a need for some new front brake pads; no problem, wheel is off, just do it for us.. 1.5hrs later & a little more on the CC we have to put the old pads back on temporarily.... In short the pads were gripping on both calipers & front wheel was therefore not moving freely enough to be safe; calipers themselves seem fine; hence the questions:

(i) The pads that we tried to fit were: Vesrah VD959 http://www.wemoto.com/parts/picture/BC-VD-959/ as they didn't have any EBC which is what they would normally recommend - does anyone have any experience with these? Web has little info about them which doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the brand.
(ii) I am conscious the guys spent 90 odd mins trying to resolve & are recommending a caliper rebuild; in fairness they could given the bike has 36k miles on it & pads removed were well worn on one particular caliper. Is this a normal problem that you can encounter?
(iii) While i could have a sticky/worn piston/pistons, have we just attempted to fit wrong brand of pads & thus i'm suffering as a result? Are R1100S front pads particularly marginal when it comes to new pads?

They guys doing the work were honest enough & i was in garage with them so its not as if i don't trust there advice, more wanting experienced R1100S owners indicating to m there thoughts....

[dave the german]

Check in this section - just recently (don't know who the OP was off hand but he mentioned 3 different calipers for the 1100) maybe the pads weren't for the caliper you have? As you need new pads get the ones you've always used and see how you go. If they were the correct pads sounds as if the pistons aren't returning far enough which could be caused by crud. Powerhouse Automotive will re furbish calipers but the prices may be a little higher than they quote on their site if they're Brembo calipers

[slparry]

I'm assuming they cracked the bleed nipples to relieve the fluid pressure and give "space" for the new pads?

[nab 301]

Guys,


the bike has 36k miles on it & pads removed were well worn on one particular caliper. Is this a normal problem that you can encounter?
(iii) While i could have a sticky/worn piston/pistons, have we just attempted to fit wrong brand of pads & thus i'm suffering as a result? Are R1100S front pads particularly marginal when it comes to new pads?

....

Looking back on old posts your bike is a '99 model so the pads should be suitable and in any case presumably they matched the old ones.
unevenly worn pads imo indicates a problem with a seized piston . The only difference with the BMW in this area is that the pistons have the Bakelite plug which makes removal trickier than with conventional hollow designs. Any decent mechanic will be able to confirm this ( seized piston)

[Blackal]

They should have been able to ascertain if the pistons were going all the way back (and staying there - if the callipers are full of air - they may push back all the way - but slowly and imperceptibly - creep back).

Suggest: Vernier measurement of fully retracted piston/piston gap.

Vernier measurement of pad/disc/pad (clamped assy).

There should be a difference of - I would say 3mm? between the two ?

Sounds like the pads are incorrect thickness, which would be the best result - I would say?

Al

[Motocod]

There are three caliper variants for the R11S. Check my post about EBC pads - there's a motorworks link which will help you determine whether you definitely have the right pads. There are two which are visually similar.

[Corvus]

Long shot, but have you checked for disc wear?

You can get a scenario, with a worn disc, where a new pad has a slightly different surface profile. On a flat disc you'd never know. But on a worn disc the new pads can "catch" on the high, unworn portion of the disc.

Used to get that situation on cars with drum brakes.

Just a thought.

[Corvus]

I'm assuming they cracked the bleed nipples to relieve the fluid pressure and give "space" for the new pads?

Good point. The space needed is above the bellows, but more convenient to bleed excess fluid at the nipples.

[bfisher]

Cheers for all the info guys... i'm just going to bite the bullet & rebuilt each caliber... Any tips for this most welcome please...

If i get lazy (although spent enough on someone looking at it!) i might even see if these guys do bikes:

http://www.brake-caliper-painting.com/

Brad

[dave the german]

check Powerhouse Automotive for the refurb - apparently brembo calipers are difficult to get spares for but Powerhouse (for most calipers) can get them. They offer full rebuilds and painting

[dysondiver]

or big red . they know their stuff , i got audi spares there that no one else knew much about , worth a call.

[bfisher]

Guys,

Pulled calipers off last night to do the rebuild; a couple of quick questions:

i. The guys who did the intial attempt at fitting the pads indicted the pins are a bit worn, particularly around teh 'washer' type feature on these particular pins; can anyone confirm its worth changing these as they look a bit worn.

ii. Re rebuild kits - it would appear all normal providers include the new pistons in all their kits; the one piston i have looked at quickly last night looks in good condition hence is it normally recommend to replace them (they are the ceramic variety); if not, then does anyone know where to get just the rubber seals? I will aim to give bmw a call this morning (i see other folks just buy from them often so want to compare prices).

Thanks brad